EDF Seeks Compensation for Fessenheim Reactor Halt, CEO Says

Oct. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Electricite de France SA will hold
talks with the French government about compensation for the
planned shutdown of the utility’s oldest nuclear plant, Chief
Executive Officer Henri Proglio said.

“Discussions will be started with the government,” he
said today in an interview on RTL radio. “I am responsible for
a company so I am responsible vis a vis my investors to defend
the interests of the company. That’s legitimate.”

French President Francois Hollande said Sept. 14 Fessenheim
will be shut at the end of 2016, marking the first step in his
bid to reduce the nation’s reliance on atomic power. The
Fukushima disaster in Japan prompted concern that the plant,
which has two 900-megawatt reactors that began operating in
1977, wouldn’t be able to withstand an earthquake or flooding.

France holds 84 percent of EDF, which owns the country’s 58
working nuclear reactors and is developing a new one in
Flamanville in Normandy. Proglio has said he wants to extend the
lifetime of EDF’s reactors to as much as 60 years, a strategy
that could be revised due to Hollande’s policy.

“I will speak with the state about the consequences,” of
shutting Fessenheim, Proglio said today.

EDF allocates 17.5 percent of the power produced by the
1,800 megawatt Fessenheim plant to German utility EnBW Energie
Baden-Wuerttemberg AG and 15 percent to Swiss electricity
consortium CNP, according to the company’s annual report.

Renewables Pledge

France gets more than three-quarters of its electricity
production from nuclear reactors, a higher proportion of nuclear
energy than any other country. Hollande has pledged to boost
renewable energy, bringing reliance on nuclear power down to 50
percent by about 2025.

Projections for rising power demand by 2025 from a
combination of an increased French population and economic
growth could bring the proportion of electricity provided by
EDF’s existing reactors down to 50 percent, Proglio said today.

The utility’s generating capacity is valued at 450 billion
euros ($583 billion), he said. This includes 100 billion euros
for hydroelectric dams, 250 billion euros for nuclear reactors
and 50 billion euros for the grid.

EDF may be forced by the country’s atomic safety watchdog
to shut Fessenheim as early as the middle of next year if it
doesn’t carry out work to bolster the site’s defenses against a
meltdown. The regulator is evaluating the utility’s plans for
the modifications.